Bumper Tab Repair

Many bumper covers are thrown away simply because the tabs are broken out. These are easily repaired with FiberFlex welding rods, stainless steel mesh, and an airless plastic welder.

FiberFlex is Polyvance's "Universal" rod. FiberFlex is formulated with carbon and glass fibers for the strongest, fastest repairs. It is not a true fusion weld; instead, the FiberFlex is a hot-melt adhesive that is applied with a plastic welder. So, it is similar to a brazing process. It sticks great to polypropylene and TPO.

Do not attempt to weld the FiberFlex rods with the nitrogen plastic welder.

This article gives the basics on how to use Polyvance's FiberFlex universal welding rods.

Always wear proper safety gear while working!

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Products Used:

Note: This is a list of the Polyvance products that can be used to make this repair. This list does not include sanders, grinders, or other common tools you will need. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call technical support at 800-633-3047.

• FiberFlex Welding Rod and Reinforcing Mesh (choose a method below):
• 5210 FiberFlex Repair Kit (230V kit available here). The kit includes a 5" x 10" sheet of stainless steel reinforcing mesh and 15 feet of FiberFlex welding rod.
• FiberFlex Welding Rods and 2045 Reinforcing Mesh with the airless plastic welding side of a nitrogen plastic welder or an one of our other airless plastic welders.
• 5700HT Mini-Weld Model 7 (230V kit available here). The 5700HT kit includes a 15 foot starter pack of FiberFlex and one 5" x 10" sheet of stainless steel reinforcing mesh.
• Note: Make sure you are using the 6031 flat tear drop shaped welding tip when using the flat FiberFlex rods.

Video Notes:

• The round, flat welding tip used in the video has been discontinued and replaced by the flat, tear drop shaped welding tip.
• English Closed Captions have been provided for this video. Click on the CC button to turn them on or off.
• The length of this video is in no way representative of the actual time required to perform a complete repair and therefore should not be used for estimating purposes.

English Transcript:

Many bumper covers are thrown away simply because the tabs are broken out. These are very simple to repair with the airless plastic welder.

The first step is to grind away some plastic using an abrasive disc on a right angle drill. Make sure to grind at a slow speed to avoid melting the plastic. Grind the plastic on the opposite side as well.

Cut a piece of the stainless steel reinforcing mesh to the width of the tab. Make the length of the mesh twice the length of the tab. Fold the mesh in half and wrap the mesh around the tab. The mesh is what we will use to build our new tab. Bury the mesh into the plastic using the airless plastic welder. Do not apply excessive pressure. Instead, allow the heat from the welder to soften the plastic before applying pressure. While the plastic is still hot, the mesh will sometimes spring back out of the plastic. You may need to hold the mesh under the plastic until it cools off. Here, we are using the welder stand to hold the mesh down until the plastic cools.

FiberFlex will not stick well to a glossy surface. Knock down the gloss with sandpaper. Apply the FiberFlex by pre-melting one side of the rod. Then flip the rod over so that the melted portion sticks, and then use the edge of the welder tip to cut off the melted part of the rod. Don't just lay the FiberFlex on top of the mesh. Instead, push some of the FiberFlex through the mesh. Continue applying FiberFlex until the mesh is completely covered. Apply FiberFlex to the opposite side of the tab. Continue to apply FiberFlex until the mesh is completely covered.

Use grinders and sanders to smooth and contour the tab to the proper shape. The final step is to drill the hole. First, measure the hole location from an existing tab to ensure that the hole is drilled in the proper location.